The Australian Open: Going from Strength to Strength with Realtime Experiences

The Australian Open (AO) is one of the world’s premier annual sporting events. According to Tennis Australia, the 2024 edition – held over three weeks – reached over 558 million unique global viewers, a 57% increase from the previous year, and accumulated more than 2.17 billion cumulative viewers, up 24%. The event also attracted a record-breaking 1,110,657 fans to Melbourne Park. 

At the ongoing 2025 edition, the AO team at Tennis Australia is navigating one of the most intense periods of their calendar year. Beyond the action on the court, they face the significant challenge of delivering a seamless and consistent digital experience to their global audience. As the tournament grows in scale and sophistication, so too does the complexity of managing realtime data delivery and monetising the digital audience at scale.

Realtime Data Delivery: A Mission-Critical Component

Realtime data delivery is at the heart of the AO’s digital strategy. For fans, it ensures instant access to live scores, match updates, and interactive experiences. Continuous and reliable data streams are also essential for broadcasters and sponsors for powering their offerings – from on-screen graphics to live digital content – as well as for Tennis Australia to fulfil their commercial obligations. Any disruptions can lead to dissatisfied fans, strained relationships with stakeholders, and potential revenue losses.

Achieving realtime data delivery at scale is no small feat, especially given the unpredictability of traffic during events (with the inevitable peaks during opening matches, and finals), where surges are the norm and require built-in elasticity to handle the dynamic demand seamlessly.

The Global Scale of the AO Digital Audience

As well as responding to extreme traffic peaks, the AO’s infrastructure must deliver for its global audience. As well as Australia, the tournament’s digital platforms were most popular in the USA, UK, Canada and Germany.

Delivering latency targets on a global scale adds another layer of complexity to delivering realtime data to fans. Whether fans are accessing AO’s digital experiences from Australia, or the USA, their expectations are the same.  

This requires meticulous planning and ensuring redundancy across multiple regions. And in some regions, this means having fallback protocols in place to support realtime data streaming where older devices mean that WebSocket – the preferred protocol for streaming data to client devices – isn’t always supported.

Thankfully, this challenge has been met, and over the years the AO’s digital channels have amassed a significant following, with millions subscribing to realtime updates, live scores, and exclusive content. The 2024 edition delivered a 10 percent increase in the combined audience for the official website and app. Despite this growth, the AO has served fans with realtime data, wherever they are.

A Blueprint for Reliable Digital Infrastructure

The pressures faced by the AO are shared by many major sports events worldwide. Organisers must juggle the dual priorities of ensuring global realtime reliability and optimising infrastructure costs, all while delivering a seamless experience to fans, broadcasters, and sponsors alike. As digital engagement continues to grow, so too will the expectations of audiences and stakeholders. 

So, how has Tennis Australia made reliable realtime data delivery possible for the AO?

Instead of tackling the challenge themselves, in 2018, Tennis Australia sought a technology provider capable of meeting their global broadcast latency targets at scale, delivering consistent and accurate live scores without interruptions, and ensuring redundancy across multiple regions to achieve a first-class experience for their global fan-base. 

Ably met these requirements with a robust realtime messaging platform that efficiently delivered live scores and updates to a global audience. Our solution ensures that fans, broadcasters, and sponsors receive timely and accurate information, enhancing the overall AO experience. With Ably’s reliable infrastructure, Tennis Australia has continued to grow, confident in the platform’s ability to support their needs.

The AO case highlights the importance of investing in cutting-edge technology. By integrating advanced realtime infrastructure, they have been able to ensure seamless delivery of updates, even during periods of peak demand. This technology not only supports fan engagement but also ensures that the tournament’s commercial stakeholders receive the data they rely on for their own operations.

Partnering with Ably has allowed Tennis Australia to avoid the challenges of building complex realtime infrastructure. Instead, they’ve entrusted Ably to manage the scalability and growth of the infrastructure, enabling them to focus on delivering engaging content and enhancing the fan experience. It has also enabled Tennis Australia to focus on continuously driving innovation such as ‘Beyond Tennis’, the world’s first generative AI-powered tennis league, and the AO BLUEZONE.

This is a great example of how event organisers can use the right technologies and strategies to ensure their digital infrastructure meets the demands of any challenge, regardless of its scale or complexity.

Matthew O’Riordan is CEO and Co-founder at Ably, a global realtime experiences platform that empowers developers to build highly scalable and engaging applications. Ably’s technology enables applications to exchange data in realtime, ensuring everyone stays on the same page, regardless of location or device. You can find out more here about how Ably helps Tennis Australia and NASCAR.

Challenge Tour Signs HotelPlanner As Title Partner

The Challenge Tour and HotelPlanner have jointly announced a multi-year partnership, with the travel technology company becoming the Tour’s title partner from the start of the 2025 season.

HotelPlanner, a leading travel technology company that combines proprietary artificial intelligence agents (HotelPlanner.ai) and a 24-hour global gig-based reservations and customer service network, becomes the Challenge Tour’s first title partner since its first official season in 1989. The partnership will help grow the Tour through increased prize funds and by helping to elevate the standard of events on the Road to Mallorca.

The 2025 HotelPlanner Tour schedule begins in South Africa next week, with the SDC Open taking place at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa from January 23-26. In total, players will compete for a record total prize fund of over €9,000,000 on the HotelPlanner Tour this season, with each European event having a minimum prize fund of €300,000, meaning prize fund increases for 16 events in total in 2025.

The schedule will consist of 29 tournaments staged across three continents in 18 different countries, culminating in the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A in Mallorca.

In addition to their title partnership, HotelPlanner will provide additional investment into six events on the 2025 HotelPlanner Tour schedule, and a total of 40 tournaments throughout the multi-year partnership.

A leading travel technology company, HotelPlanner combines proprietary AI and machine learning capabilities with a 24-hour global customer service network to seamlessly serve all traveller hotel needs from a single platform. They will use their assets, connectivity and people to help grow the Tour and open doors for the game of golf across the world through global travel.

Jamie Hodges, HotelPlanner Tour Director, said: “Today’s announcement is undoubtedly a momentous one in the proud history of our Tour. Our Tour will be strengthened because of this hugely significant deal, and that was essential to us and to HotelPlanner.

“This new partnership will increase prize funds for our membership and elevate the standard of our events. The global reach of HotelPlanner is also aligned with the diversity of our membership and the places and cultures we visit.”

Tim Hentschel, HotelPlanner Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to become the title partner of the Challenge Tour. This partnership provides an excellent platform to engage with customers, prospects, and stakeholders, and build our brand.

“We share the same vision and values as the Tour, and as a leading travel technology company we will use our people, assets, and connectivity to help grow the game of golf globally and the Tour further.

“The Challenge Tour has been the foundation of so many great golfing names and we are excited to see the HotelPlanner Tour continue to open doors for the next generation of superstars.”

NEOM Report Highlights the Transformational Rise of Women’s Football in Saudi Arabia

NEOM, in partnership with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has announced the publication of ‘Pioneering Change: Women’s Football in Saudi Arabia’, a report that shines a light on the current women’s football landscape in the Kingdom, the steps taken to grow the sport so far and a look ahead to future opportunities.

As Presenting Partner of the inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League, NEOM is committed to supporting the growth and progress of women’s football across the region and beyond. The report reveals the inspirational journey of the sport’s exponential growth and the continued potential it presents in shaping the future of sport within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Middle East and Asia. 

Women’s football in Saudi Arabia has become a catalyst for the increased participation of women in sport more broadly, helping to redefine sports culture and societal norms for the future, promoting gender equality, healthier lifestyles and aligning with the Kingdom’s national ambitions of Saudi Vision 2030. Furthermore, with the Kingdom set to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034, interest and participation in football among Saudi women can only continue to grow.

Jan Paterson, Managing Director of NEOM Sport, said: “This report, created in collaboration with our contributors, is our way of truly understanding the landscape – where we are, what obstacles lie ahead and how the future could look. But it’s about more than just football. It’s about providing more opportunities for women and demonstrating the far-reaching impact that sport can have on individuals and communities. Alongside the AFC, we aim to play our part in unlocking the full potential of women’s sport, by telling the story of how key stakeholders are redefining football and empowering women across the Kingdom.”

With contributions from multiple stakeholders from the women’s game – including the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), the Saudi Ministry of Sport (MoS), the Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA), the AFC and more – this report looks into the strides taken that led to the significant increase in participation in women’s football between 2022 and 2023. Historic milestones over the past six years include the launch of the Saudi Women’s Premier League and Women’s National team, the appointment of female leaders and obtaining an official FIFA world ranking. Wider key contributing components explored in the report include developmental pathways at grassroots level, the importance of leadership and coaching, investment in infrastructure and accessibility, and commercialization of the sport. These insights are a few of many highlighting the depth of opportunity in how women’s football drives tangible strategic efforts that are propelling the sport and communities forward.

Aalia Abdulaziz AlRasheed, Head of Women’s Football, Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), said: “It has been a truly remarkable journey for Saudi women’s football over the last six years since the establishment of a dedicated women’s football department at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Driven by Saudi Vision 2030, we are hugely proud of the transformation across all areas of the game. Including the establishment of four national teams, five competitions, 77,000 girls playing in our annual Schools League, six girls’ regional training centers and numerous coaching/refereeing development programs. It is truly something that needs to be seen to be believed.

Our mission is simple: we want to inspire and offer new opportunities for girls throughout the country to realize their dreams and showcase their talent and love for the beautiful game. Our journey has inspired millions along the way, not just in Saudi Arabia but across different parts of the world. We are not doing this alone. We are open to the world and are already in 62 active partnerships with federations to co-develop the women’s game and realize its full potential. Today, 60 international players from 20 nationalities play in our leagues and have joined us on this journey. We are living in hugely exciting times and there is so much more to come from Saudi women’s football in the years to come.” AlRasheed said.

The full report can be viewed HERE.

A Three-Headed Trident: Tech, Legal Expertise, and Partnerships—The Modern Weapon Against Digital Piracy in Sports

The growing availability of platforms to watch sports has been a boon for fans, but it has also led to challenges due to media rights being distributed across multiple subscription-based services.

When combined, the total cost of accessing all these platforms has become increasingly burdensome for viewers. Many fans have expressed frustration over the rising prices, but these concerns are often overlooked. The skyrocketing value of media rights has only exacerbated the problem, with no signs of slowing down in the near future.

This rise in costs has driven many fans to turn to illegal streaming as an alternative, with numerous websites offering live sports events for free. While some of these providers have faced legal action and shutdowns, the high demand for free access ensures that fans determined to bypass subscription fees will continue seeking such options. Consequently, broadcasters are losing out on significant revenue from potential subscribers, a growing issue that remains a pressing concern for the industry. 

The NFL, NBA, and UFC have claimed in a joint statement that live piracy means the global sports industry is losing up to $28 billion in additional potential annual revenue.The sports industry is projected to surpass $680 billion in revenue by 2028; however, this figure could be even higher if not for the impact of piracy, as revealed by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The fight against sports piracy is evolving rapidly, with advanced tools like AI-driven detection platforms, robust legal frameworks, and strategic online collaborations forming a powerful triad. 

A Comprehensive Suite of Tools Enhanced by AI: Transforming the Fight Against Digital Piracy

“The success of anti-piracy platforms lies in their innovative use of technology, offering end-to-end solutions to combat piracy across various digital channels, including websites, apps, social networks, OTT platforms, and IPTV services. At the heart of this transformation is Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has redefined how piracy is detected, analyzed, and prevented,” says Pablo Lo Giudice, Anti Piracy Product Manager at Sportian.

Key AI-Driven Advancements:

  • AI-Powered Detection Tools: Advanced AI algorithms gather and analyze technical intelligence on domains and IPs involved in piracy. This not only speeds up the identification of unauthorized streams but also provides critical insights into the methods and networks employed by pirates.

  • Rapid Data Processing for Dynamic Blocking Orders: AI’s ability to process vast amounts of data in real time allows for the creation of dynamic blocking orders. These orders adapt to the evolving tactics of piracy networks, ensuring continuous and effective intervention.

  • Real-Time Monitoring & Technical Analysis: AI-powered systems monitor blocked domains and platforms 24/7, capturing evidence and producing actionable reports that reflect the changing landscape of digital piracy. This ensures that responses are not only swift but also precise, targeting the root of the issue.

Pablo further adds, “The integration of AI has amplified the capacity to detect and address piracy by over sixfold, making interventions both timely and impactful. This isn’t just about removing illegal clips—it’s about leveraging AI-driven technical analysis to dismantle piracy operations at their core.”

Legal and Strategic Breakthroughs: Fighting Piracy One Jurisdiction at a Time

The fight against digital piracy has not only advanced technologically but also made critical strides in the legal and regulatory domains. Countries such as Indonesia, Denmark, Malaysia, Peru, France, and Spain have adopted dynamic blocking orders, which serve as a powerful weapon in piracy prevention.

What Are Dynamic Blocking Orders?

Dynamic blocking enables internet service providers (ISPs) to swiftly block unauthorized content in real time. This agile approach ensures that emerging piracy threats can be tackled instantly, minimizing damage to rights holders and their assets.

Key Legal Milestones and Challenges:

  • Localized Victories, Global Impact: The adoption of dynamic blocking orders in various countries has set new benchmarks for combating piracy. These legal tools provide a robust framework for immediate and effective action, giving rights holders the power to protect their content.

  • The Uphill Battle of Regional Disparity: Despite these advancements, the absence of uniform region-wide piracy rules presents a significant challenge. Each country requires its own legal process, making the fight against piracy a piecemeal effort. Rights holders and organizations must navigate complex, varying regulatory landscapes, slowing down their ability to act on a global scale.

Combining Legal and Technological Prowess

While legal breakthroughs like dynamic blocking orders are crucial, their effectiveness is magnified when paired with technological tools such as AI-powered detection systems. Together, they form a comprehensive approach to combat piracy, ensuring both immediate intervention and long-term deterrence.

By addressing regulatory inconsistencies and fostering international collaboration, the sports industry can strengthen its fight against piracy and establish a more unified global strategy for content protection.

Expanding the Fight Against Piracy

In addition to technological and legal measures, these platforms have expanded their reach by forging partnerships with major leagues and tournaments in sports like football, tennis, and mixed martial arts. Integration with more than 70 global search engines, social media platforms, and ISPs ensures rapid response times for content removal.

Emerging platforms like TikTok and Telegram, where piracy has proliferated, are now also within the scope of these anti-piracy efforts. Intelligence capabilities have grown to detect and dismantle piracy groups, infiltrating forums and neutralizing threats from within.

Pablo elaborates, “The battle against piracy transcends individual sports or entities. From broadcasters and rights holders to fan groups and governing bodies, every stakeholder has a role to play in safeguarding the value of sports content.”

 Collaboration is not just a strategic advantage—it’s a necessity:

  • Broadcasters and Rights Holders: By working together, they can pool resources, share best practices, and align strategies to counteract piracy at scale.
  • Fan Groups: Educating fans on the consequences of piracy and promoting legitimate platforms fosters a culture of respect for intellectual property.
  • Cross-Sport Knowledge Sharing: As piracy methods evolve, the lessons learned from one sport can quickly be adapted and applied across others, ensuring a more effective collective response.

Global Partnerships for Rapid Response

For Sportian, integration with over 70 global search engines, social media platforms, and ISPs has been pivotal in allowing its Piracy Guard services to ensure swift takedowns of unauthorized content. These partnerships enable platforms to respond rapidly, limiting the reach and impact of piracy.

By fostering a united front, the sports industry can not only tackle current challenges but also future-proof itself against the ever-evolving threat of digital piracy. The fight is collective, and the solutions must be too.

Proactive Prevention Measures

Recognizing that prevention is more effective than remediation, these platforms now offer proactive security assessments for rights holders. These assessments identify vulnerabilities within digital infrastructure, coupled with regular ethical hacking and vulnerability scans, helping organizations stay ahead of evolving threats.

A Transformational Era for Anti-Piracy Solutions

The evolution of piracy prevention tools reflects the growing sophistication and scope of efforts to combat digital theft. These platforms have become comprehensive hubs for piracy prevention, combining state-of-the-art technology, legal acumen, and strategic partnerships to secure the future of sports content.

The Road Ahead

As piracy methods continue to evolve, the tools and strategies to combat them must also adapt. Investments in AI-driven technologies, legal frameworks, and proactive measures promise to keep the industry one step ahead. For sports organizations and rights holders, these solutions offer a robust and reliable partner in the fight against digital piracy, ensuring that the integrity and revenue of global sports remain protected. Sportian has developed two new tools in the last year that have added huge data-gathering capabilities to support de-indexing and legal pursuits, using AI to increase volume and speed. To its existing suite of tools, it has launched Nexus, a tool that collects technical information about domains and IPs serving illegal content and automating communication between rights holders, ISPs and regulatory bodies. Its second new product, Sentry, carries out real-time monitoring of domains blocked by ISPs, gathering evidence and launching new reports as their status changes.

Sportian Piracy Guard (formerly Content Protection) has grown to become the anti-piracy hub for the sports sector, protecting over $9.8bn in assets for dozens of the world’s largest sporting events across web, app, social networks, OTT and IPTV.

With a suite of new detection, analysis and removal tools available in one package, Sportian can offer the most complete single solution for piracy on the market. Having made advances to its data gathering and geolocation tools through AI, the volume of piracy detected has jumped by more than 6x while at the same time, the sophistication of content blocking has increased.

Of the nearly 13m illegal streams, users, apps and services Sportian has detected this year, it successfully removed over 98% at the point of detection, showing the value of the combined stakeholder approach to not just spot, but remove piracy before it can spread. 

Man City Women inks global partnership with Revolut

Manchester City Women has announced a new global partnership with leading financial technology company, Revolut.

It marks Revolut’s first investment in women’s football and adds to Manchester City Women’s growing network of commercial partners.

Revolut’s global presence will provide new opportunities to elevate the visibility of Manchester City Women both in the UK and internationally.

As part of the agreement, the Revolut brand will be visible on the training kit sleeve of Manchester City Women, while captain Alex Greenwood will become a Revolut ambassador, solidifying its presence on and off the pitch. 

In addition to the introduction of digital and physical assets that will feature Revolut branding throughout the season, the partnership will be further celebrated with a Revolut takeover at the highly anticipated City v Chelsea game taking place at the Etihad Stadium in March.

Manchester City Women and Revolut will also collaborate to provide both fans and Revolut customers – both new and existing – with access to exclusive benefits and experiences.

SIGN UP TO REVOLUT HERE!

Charlotte O’Neill, Managing Director of Manchester City Women, said: “It’s fantastic to welcome Revolut as a partner of Manchester City Women today.

“This is a key moment as we welcome another brand committed to investing in the women’s game and supporting the commercial growth and sustainability of the Club. Revolut joins our growing portfolio of partners focused solely on the women’s game and we look forward to working with the brand throughout the partnership and this journey together.”

Deborah Wajsbrot, Head of Growth – Strategic Partnerships & Sponsorships at Revolut said, “We’re proud to be partnering with Manchester City Women. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to innovation, excellence and breaking boundaries – values that resonate deeply with both the Club’s fans and our users.

“Together, we’re committed to creating exclusive benefits and unforgettable experiences that bring our communities closer to the game they love. We’re excited for the season ahead and look forward to working with the club to create even more opportunities to grow women’s football in Manchester and beyond, inspiring the next generation to dream big.”

Marylebone Cricket Club and InCrowd rolls out subscription platform Inside Lord’s

Marylebone Cricket Club and InCrowd launch first-of-its-kind subscription platform, Inside Lord’s, for fans.

Inside Lord’s gives cricket fans access to the iconic ground like never before. Launched in October 2024, this fully integrated platform offers a subscription service giving fans access to priority ticket windows, online and in-ground discounts, as well as year-round exclusive digital content including behind-the-scenes at the iconic ground and online coaching masterclasses from cricketing legends.

MCC selected InCrowd for their proven success in the creation of premium, commercially driven and experience-led websites and their expertise in the development of membership and subscription platforms across a range of ticketing, retail and OTT platforms.

InCrowd ran a comprehensive discovery phase to identify the creative and technical approach to deliver the Inside Lord’s website. Together, MCC and InCrowd set objectives to showcase Lord’s as one of the world’s greatest cricket grounds, opening doors to a new and international audience, whilst growing first party data and driving new revenue through the carefully planned tiered subscription model.

InCrowd facilitated the integration of several sport-specific and trusted products into the new website alongside existing technology, providing MCC with the tools required to meet and surpass their ambitions for Inside Lord’s. These include a Content Management System and data-led Activation Tools from Cortex alongside seamless integrations with Positive Single Sign On, the Lord’s Cam and virtual tour provider Matterport.

“From day one, the focus for Inside Lord’s has been to provide a new, first-of-its kind engagement platform to take cricket to the next level in terms of digital experiences and to bring fans even closer to the sport they love” says MCC’s Commercial Director, Andy Muggleton.

“This platform is about so much more than delivering content” says InCrowd CEO Aidan Cooney. “Together with the MCC, we are focussed on creating a connected community where fans can engage with their sport like never before. We are incredibly excited to join the MCC team on this journey, helping to provide an unparalleled new high-value platform that transforms the way in which fans consume, share and celebrate cricket”.

Euroleague Basketball renews broadcast deal with Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom and Euroleague Basketball have announced the renewal of their broadcast agreement, continuing a partnership that began in 2015. This new extension will ensure that the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the BKT EuroCup will remain on MagentaSport, Deutsche Telekom’s dedicated sports platform, until the end of the 2028-29 season.

The agreement, finalized well in advance of the previous extension’s expiration in the 2025-2026 season, highlights the strong synergy and commitment between Euroleague Basketball and Deutsche Telekom. This partnership, set to span more than a decade, reinforces MagentaSport’s dedication to delivering premier basketball content. Fans can look forward to continued live HD broadcasts of all Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and BKT EuroCup games, including one top game per round available on a free-to-air basis.

“We are thrilled to extend our partnership with Deutsche Telekom and MagentaSport,” said Alex Ferrer Kristjansson, Euroleague Basketball Marketing and Communications Executive Officer “Their commitment to providing high-quality broadcasts and a comprehensive fan experience aligns perfectly with our goal of growing the sport of basketball In Germany. This renewal is a solid evidence of the success of our collaboration and the increasing popularity of our competitions in Germany.”

Germany remains a key market for Euroleague Basketball. The country boasts top-tier teams such as ALBA Berlin and FC Bayern Munich in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, and ratiopharm Ulm and Veolia Towers Hamburg in the BKT EuroCup. Furthermore, Germany has hosted Euroleague Basketball’s signature event, the Final Four,  multiple times, including three editions in Berlin (2009, 2016, 2024) and one in Cologne. The German fanbase has seen a remarkable 50% growth over the last five seasons, contributing to the increasing popularity of the competitions, which have enjoyed a a 272% rise in TV audience numbers on MagentaSport on the same period.

“We have an outstanding, trusting partnership with the Euroleague, which is also characterized by a shared desire for constant development. We continuously maintain and develop the sports content with our partners. This is especially true for the top Euroleague competitions with major clubs, which has a rapidly growing audience. The EuroLeague provides weekly proof that it is the best league in Europe with the best players – the premier class of basketball,” says Dorothea Jacob, VP Proposition & Content MagentaTV.

MagentaSport delivers an exceptional product each competition round, featuring top-quality live game broadcasts and a comprehensive 360-degree fan experience. This includes extensive coverage across digital channels and the weekly program “The Conference,” where top German basketball journalists provide in-depth analysis and custom content such as the “Road Trip Series,” features, documentaries, and exclusive interviews.

In addition to Euroleague Basketball competitions, MagentaSport’s basketball´s portfolio includes the 2025 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket Qualifiers and Tournament, as well as the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket, among other sports content.

FIBA and Schelde Sports extend partnership for premium backstop units until 2028

FIBA has renewed its partnership with Official Technical Supplier Schelde Sports until 2028 to continue providing best in class backstop units for FIBA competitions over the upcoming four-year period.

This extension solidifies a highly valued collaboration, with Schelde Sports set to supply premium backstop units at the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 in Cyprus, Finland, Latvia, and Poland; the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 in Germany; the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 in Qatar and for the Olympic Basketball Tournament during the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Owned by the ABEO Group, Schelde Sports has been an Official Technical Supplier since 2017, after successful collaborations at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 and FIBA EuroBasket 2015. Schelde Sports has also served as the official global backstop supplier for FIBA 3×3 since 2013.

FIBA is dedicated to providing players with state-of-the-art equipment while offering Global Partners exceptional opportunities to showcase their brands. Schelde Sports has consistently delivered both at the highest standard with for example their first-ever integration of LED screens into the backstop unit paddings at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

As a FIBA Official Technical Supplier, Schelde Sports is also an approved partner of the FIBA Equipment & Venue Centre, which guarantees the highest level of quality, testing and innovation related to basketball equipment and technology.

Olivier Estèves, CEO of ABEO Group, said: “Schelde Sports and FIBA work together to promote the game of basketball worldwide. Our relationship with FIBA shows our dedication to the game and our drive for constant innovation. We are pleased to watch our backstops shine at prestigious events, like last year’s Olympic basketball tournaments in our home country. Future plans include supporting basketball growth with cutting-edge products that will improve athlete and fan experiences and we look forward strengthening our support and services to FIBA over the following four years, with the FIBA World Cup 2027 in Qatar and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games serving as significant milestones.”

Frank Leenders, FIBA Media and Marketing Services Director General stated: “We are delighted with the way our relationship with Schelde Sports has gone from strength to strength. They are a hugely valued member of the FIBA community of partners who are playing a leading role in helping us deliver unprecedented successes at our events.

“FIBA’s dedication to providing premium equipment which players can rely on, is helped enormously by working with high-performing suppliers such as Schelde Sports. We are looking forward to working together to continue delivering best in class products and supporting FIBA’s pinnacle competitions worldwide.”

Anthony Joshua becomes co-owner of a Hexagon Cup team

Two-time heavyweight boxing world champion Anthony Joshua has joined forces with tennis legend Andy Murray as a new Co-Owner of Team AD/vantage, the inaugural winners of the world’s leading professional padel team competition, the Hexagon Cup.


Following in fellow British sporting great Andy Murray’s footsteps, Joshua is the latest global sporting icon to align with the Hexagon Cup, the world’s most famous professional padel competition which prepares for its second edition in Madrid, from 29th January – 2nd February.


Joshua joins Murray, Murray’s former coach Dani Vallverdú and businessman Arran Yentob on the leadership of the British-owned team, as it prepares to defend its title later this month, lining up against seven other teams owned by Hollywood star Eva Longoria and sport stars including F1 driver Pierre Gasly, football greats Sergio Agüero and Leo Messi, FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, and the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar.

Pirelli enters tennis with Australian Open deal

Pirelli will be the Official Tyre Partner of the Australian Open, which will start on Sunday 12 January in Melbourne.

After motorsport, football, sailing and skiing, Pirelli enters tennis, choosing to support the Grand Slam with a partnership which represents a high-profile showcase for promoting the brand throughout the world.

Andrea Casaluci, CEO of Pirelli: “For Pirelli, the Australian Open represents a very important opportunity for visibility because of the great interest in tennis at the global level. In particular, the sponsorship will help increase awareness of our brand in Australia which is a market with a high concentration of prestige cars. Precisely in Melbourne, home of the tournament, in 2019 we opened a Pirelli P Zero World, our flagship store model currently present in only four other cities in the world”.

Cedric Cornelis, Tennis Australia Chief Commercial Officer: “We are very pleased to announce Pirelli as the Official Tyre Partner of the Australian Open. Pirelli is synonymous with innovation and performance, making it a great fit for one of the world’s premier tennis events. We are delighted that Pirelli has chosen the Australian Open to mark its first investment in a Grand Slam.”